The invention resides in an apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 for separating for example parts arranged in at least two adjacent rows, including a transfer element having at least two retaining elements arranged side-by-side which engage parts in a first position and then deposit them in a second position.
Such apparatus are well-known in the art. They generally include an element which is rotatable about an axis and which is provided with several radially extending arms which are arranged side-by-side at a uniform angular distance from one another and which are provided at their ends with vacuum suction means. With the known apparatus, for example parts disposed on adjacently arranged transport belts can be grasped; pivoted by 90° or 180° and transferred to a downstream machine element.
The arms of the known separating apparatus are arranged firmly on a rotatable element in side-by-side relationship so that the distance at which they are arranged in side-by-side relationship cannot be changed. As a result, the parts can be deposited again only with the same sideward spacing relative to one another with which they were picked up. That is, with the known separating apparatus, the distance at which the parts are arranged side-by-side cannot be changed. This is disadvantageous in particular if the parts are arranged directly adjacent one another without any spacing, but it is necessary for the further treatment or handling of the parts that there is a space between adjacent sides of the parts.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the type described above which however allows the parts to be deposited at distances from each other which differ from the distances at which they were picked up by the apparatus.